


I don't shine if you don't shine

by rinthegreat



Category: Free!
Genre: 2014, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, Rinharu Week, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-21
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 11:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2650169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinthegreat/pseuds/rinthegreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A week prior to a large swimming tournament in Hawaii, Rin heads back to Japan.</p><p>RinHaru week 2014 continuous story set post AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Firsts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 1: Firsts

            The tournament in Hawaii is a week away when Rin leaves Sydney for Tokyo.  It’s the first vacation he’s had since joining his old coach’s team at the university level, having trained straight through the breaks, forcing Gou and his mother to come down and visit him on the holidays, and Rin has been looking forward to it.  It just happened to work out that Haru’s college had already planned to attend the meet too.  Taking the same flight as Haru is, as Rei would say, logical.

            It’s warmer in Japan than Australia, Rin notes the moment he steps off the airplane.  He has to wait in line to pass through customs anyway, so he figures he can just shove his jacket in his backpack.  He’s still trying to fit it inside when he’s nudged by the person behind him.  Looking up he realizes he’s up, and he’s never going to get that jacket in his pack anyway.  The result is him wrapping it around his waist and putting the half-zipped bag over his shoulder once more.

            He looks out the windows as he leaves customs, as if he could see the trees.  He can’t.  It’s late spring, leading into early summer up here, and it might be too much to hope for that he’ll see some sakura trees still in bloom.  No, the first thing he should see, Rin decides, is a mirror.  The flight from Sydney here was close to ten hours, and he feels disgusting.  Planes always make him feel disgusting.  He wants to take a long shower.  In hand sanitizer.

            Rin’s seriously considering stopping off in the bathroom and taking a quick bath in the sinks, judging looks be damned, when he sees him.  He stops completely in his tracks, causing the man behind him to run into him.  Rin doesn’t even apologize.

            Haru doesn’t appear to have seen him yet.  Nor does he seem to be looking for him.  Yet, there he is, looking as bored as ever.  He wasn’t expecting Haru to be here.  When Rin had sent the email saying he was coming up for the week leading to the tournament in Hawaii, he’d only received a response from Makoto asking what time his flight was due to arrive so he could pick him up.

            But when Rin looks around once more, there’s no Makoto in sight.

            He shakes his head and approaches Haru, readjusting his still half-open backpack on his shoulders.  Finally Haru seems to notice him, and Rin almost freezes again.  Haru’s gaze has always been more intense than everyone else’s, and after not having seen it for months it hits him a thousand times harder.

            Somehow he manages to keep walking without falling flat on his face; an impressive feat if he does say so himself.  “Where’s Makoto?”  He asks when he’s close enough, cringing at his own words.  He hasn’t talked to Haru outside of the occasional email since he left for Australia, and his first words to him are to ask where someone else is.

            “Exam.”  Haru’s voice after near radio silence for the past ten months is a breath of fresh air.  But Haru doesn’t seem to be nearly as excited to see Rin as Rin is to see him.  Maybe he should’ve started with a hello.

            Rin readjusts the straps on his bag again, looking to the side and feeling awkward.  “Ah.  Cool.  Well, shall we go then?”

            “You just have one bag?”  Clearly Haru had thought Makoto asked him to come so he could help Rin carry his stuff.  He looks bored with the whole situation and maybe even irritated with having to be here to pick up Rin at all. 

            “Nah.  I gave my coach my meet stuff.  I just have clothes for a week and my practice suit and goggles with me.  Just in case you wanted to get a sneak peek of what you’re in for.”  He doesn’t really know why he felt the need to tell Haru that.  He doesn’t know why Haru isn’t rolling his eyes at him right now.  Or maybe Haru is and just does it in his mind instead.

            “So…”  Rin starts after they’ve stood there in silence for long enough.  “Are we…?”

            He doesn’t have to finish the sentence, because upon him speaking Haru decided to just walk away.  Rin gives an exaggerated sigh and follows him.  It’s not so bad.  It’s his first time back in Japan after he moved to Australia to train with his old coach down there, and Haru is the one who came to get him.  Already this time is better than the last one.

            “Are you gonna tell me about your training?”  He asks once he catches up to Haru.

            “The pool is nice.”

            Rin chuckles.  “As brief as ever, huh?”  Haru doesn’t even respond to that.

            “What about your classes?  Do you get to draw?”

            This time he only gets a half shrug.

            His best attempts at starting a conversation thoroughly shot down, Rin decides to just stay silent.  It was a long plane ride anyway, and no matter what time he flies or where he goes, there is always a screaming baby on board.  Haru probably isn’t acting any different than usual; Rin’s just being oversensitive because he’s dead on his feet.  He knows Makoto is in an exam, but he could really use a nap, and he assumes he’s staying at Makoto’s place while he’s in Tokyo.

            Right as Rin opens his mouth to ask if Haru has a spare key so he can go pass out for an hour or two, Haru finally decides to speak up.  “My coach said you can come to practice this afternoon.”

            Ten hours of on and off sleep while sitting up and a two hour time change slow down Rin’s reactions, and he finds himself staring at Haru open mouthed when he walks.  It’s really a lucky thing he doesn’t walk into something.  “You told your coach about me?”

            There’s a slight pink in Haru’s cheek that could be from him being a healthy human being.  Rin’s never been good at judging him, and he’s really in no mental state to try and channel Makoto.  “Do you want to come or not?”

            Of course he wants to go.  Racing Haru, or even training with him, is what got Rin into this whole mess in the first place.  “I’ll need a nap first.  Do I have time?”

            Later, Rin will swear he saw the smallest of smiles on Haru’s lips.  “It’s 9 o’clock in the morning, Rin.”

            “Shut up.”  He nudges Haru with his backpack, a grin appearing on his face despite his exhaustion.  “Do you have a key to Makoto’s?”

            “Makoto is busy this week.  I have an extra futon.”  This time Haru isn’t even remotely facing Rin’s direction, but it doesn’t matter.  The blush that spreads is the one on Rin’s face.


	2. Departures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 2: Departures

            They don’t have to leave for Hawaii until the following Monday, as the meet doesn’t even start until that Thursday.  _And_ since Haru doesn’t have class on Friday, he and Rin get to leave for Iwatobi a full day earlier than Rin had originally planned.  It works out perfectly.

            The few days he spends with Haru in Tokyo are like a dream.  Rin passes out the moment they reach Haru’s apartment on a futon he has a sneaking suspicion is from Makoto.  He doesn’t say anything about it though, even when he notices the tag from the store still attached.

            Haru lets him follow along to his afternoon class, which Rin spends writing English words on Haru’s paper, messing up the other’s diligent note taking.  “I never thought you were much of a student,” he whispers when Haru glares at him.  The freestyler just rolls his eyes at Rin, making him burst out laughing to the point where he has to leave the lecture hall.

            Haru doesn’t invite him again after that.

            He still allows Rin to come to practice with him though.  The coach turns out to be a pleasant, middle aged man who reminds Rin of his own coach back in Australia in the way he holds himself.  He shakes Rin’s hand and tells him he had no idea Haru had friends until he mentioned Rin coming to visit.  Rin turns to harass Haru about the comment, but the other is already in the pool by the time he does.

            Swimming with Haru again is incredible.  He has to force himself to keep to his taper, even as every cell in his body aches to race him.  The small smile Haru pretends he doesn’t have when they climb out two hours later proves he wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the practice.

            And it gets even better from there.  Haru cooks dinner for them both the first night, a notion Rin thought of as romantic until it turned out to be mackerel, but it’s not all that bad, and they stay up talking until Haru almost falls asleep at the table.

            Rin spends the time Haru has class catching up on the homework he has for his own schooling, and forces Haru to show him around Tokyo on his breaks.  Haru acts irritated every time, but he never pushes back hard enough for Rin to think he really is.  He tries to force Haru to make something other than mackerel, but the result is an argument about food which ends with them going out for dinner that night.  They sit outside on the patio, overlooking the streets while Rin asks Haru about every detail of his life in the year he’s been gone, and it almost feels like a date with the sun setting in the background.  He doesn’t say anything about it though; he doesn’t want to ruin it.

            All good things must come to an end though, and after several days of sightseeing, swimming, and different restaurants, it’s time to leave Tokyo and head back to Iwatobi.  Rin really doesn’t want to say goodbye to the city he now has some of his favorite memories in, but it fades into the background through the train window anyway.

            He’s about to nudge Haru and ask him if this feels like their trip to Australia all over again, but when he looks over the freestyler is sleeping.  His head is lolled to the side and his hair is slightly mussed, and he looks so calm and peaceful that Rin has to physically turn his head away to keep himself from kissing him.

            It reminds him of the last time they rode the train together.

            Haru had been sitting right next to him that time too.  Rin hadn’t expected him to be there at all.  He’d said his goodbyes to everyone by the time he got on the train.  Except Haru.  He hadn’t said goodbye to Haru.

            Well, that wasn’t quite true.  He’d said goodbye to him after leaving Makoto’s a few nights earlier when everyone was over there to play video games and hang out.  But he’d seen everyone else after that for a proper goodbye.  Everyone but Haru.

            It had been bothering him.  He remembered that.  He’d been waiting at the train station with Sousuke, having hung around till the last second in the hopes the freestyler would show up out of the blue, and missed the train his family was on.  Haru hadn’t been home when he’d gone to check earlier that day.  He hadn’t been at Makoto’s either.  Makoto had looked so sorry about it, Rin thought he might actually cry.

            No one had known where Haru was.

            Rin’s necklace had stood out against Sousuke’s chest when they hugged goodbye for the hundredth time, Rin promising to write more often this time.  But by the time he’d gotten on the train, only half the tears were for Sousuke’s goodbye.  The other half were for Haru’s lack of one.  He’d wiped the tears away forcefully, trying to calm himself as he made his way to the emptiest car he could find.

            Rin had chosen to stare at Japan as it passed by instead of the car, even though it was mostly empty.  The door had opened a few minutes after he’d found a seat far enough away from everyone else.  He didn’t think much until the person chose to sit right next to him.  Fate caused him to look over, his irritation visible on his face at first.

            He’d almost cried again at seeing Haru.

            “Haru…what are you doing here?”

            He remembers how Haru hadn’t even been looking at him at first and how much it bothered him.  “Meeting the new coach at the university.”

            “Oh.”

            They hadn’t said anything to each other after that; Haru because he never did, and Rin because he was afraid he’d actually start crying if he spoke at all.  He just scooted a little closer to Haru so their shoulders bumped, and Haru didn’t move away.

            He did cry when his stop was announced though.  It was several stops before Haru’s, and Rin found himself wishing he’d said something instead of staying silent the whole time.  He had so much he wanted Haru to know, and so much more he didn’t, but he hadn’t said any of it.

            “Rin, you’re gonna miss your stop.”  He couldn’t even look at Haru to see what kind of expression he was wearing.  “Rin.”  He’d just buried his face in Haru’s shoulder, still crying.

            “Write me, promise?”  Rin asked, his voice muffled by the fabric of Haru’s tee-shirt.

            “I thought we agreed on email.”

            “That too.  And we have to Skype at least once a month.”

            “What’s Skype?”

            The train had slowed, indicating his stop was near, and Rin was forced to extract himself from Haru’s shoulder.  He felt calmer now.  “I’ll see you soon enough, Haru.  So you better train hard!”

            It really wasn’t as soon as Rin had thought though.  It’s been almost a full year, he thinks as he continues watching the countryside fly by.  He’d thought he’d have been back before now.

            Better late than never, he supposes.

            The train slows as it approaches the next stop.  They’re only an hour in to the six hour journey, so Rin settles back to take a nap as well.  Considering they’re planning to see Nagisa when they arrive, he figures he’ll need it.

            A soft head of hair drops onto his shoulder just before he drifts off, and Rin finds himself smiling.  Yes, he thinks.  This train ride is much better than the last one.


	3. Reunions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RinHaru Week Prompt 3: Reunions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda weird since the reunions are between Rin and Gou, Nagisa, and Rei. (And also Haru and the Iwatobi pool.) Next chapter has more reunions in it.

            Haru must’ve woken up before he did, because when Rin finally comes to, his shoulder is cold and Haru is gone.  He panics for a moment, thinking he’d missed his stop, before he remembers that Haru would’ve woken him up if that were the case.  He’s probably just off in the bathroom or taking a walk.  It’s a long train ride after all.

            He gets up to stretch his own legs and relieve his bladder, and by the time he gets back Haru’s sitting there again and they have less than an hour left in the journey.  He plops back down in his seat and pulls out his phone.  He only has two: one from Gou ( _Can’t wait to see you, Onii-chan!_ ) and another from Sousuke ( _Sorry can’t make it today, be there tomorrow._ ).  He really isn’t sure what to expect when they get to the train station, having not been part of any planning.  He’d even missed Gou’s graduation ceremony, he’d been training so much.

            As the train pulls into the station, they stand by the door, Rin scanning the crowd for his sister as they skid to a stop.  It’s a good thing his sister has the same bright shade of hair as him, because he picks her out immediately.  He grabs Haru’s hand without thinking about what he’s doing, knowing the other hadn’t been paying attention as they’d arrived.

            Rin helps guide them through the crowd, only realizing he’s _holding Haru’s hand_ when the other doesn’t try to let go.  He hopes Haru doesn’t notice how sweaty his palm gets at that instant.  He releases Haru the moment he makes eye contact with Gou, raising it to wave to her instead.

            “Onii-chan!”  She practically jumps on him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and he finally notices that she’s not alone.

            “Rin-chan!  Haru-chan!”  Nagisa, the person Gou has probably been hanging out too much with, is standing there waving happily to Rin and Haru.  He’s standing next to Rei, and Rin notices that they’re holding hands a second before Nagisa releases it to run over and tackle Rin and Gou.

            “Hey!”  Rin exclaims.  “Why aren’t you attacking Haru?”

            Nagisa giggles.  “Your reactions are better.”

            “Nagisa-kun,” Rei walks over, pushing up his glasses with this disappointed look on his face.  “Didn’t I tell you not to anger Rin-san?”  He gives Rin an apologetic look, and Gou and Nagisa seem to finally have their fill.

            “Good to see you, Rei.”  The other butterflier has always been a pleasant addition to their group.

            “You ask well, Rin-san.  Haruka-senpai.”  He nods to each of them in turn, making Rin smile at the other’s continued formality to them.

            Nagisa looks around.  “Where’s Mako-chan?”

            “He still has class or something,” Rin looks to Haru who nods.

            “He’ll be here tomorrow.”

            Nagisa is practically jumping up and down with excitement.  “Let’s go, let’s go.”  He grabs Rin’s arm and drags him off.

            “Are you staying with us or Haruka-senpai?”  Gou asks when she finally catches up.

            “Oh, uh…”  Rin hadn’t really thought about that before.  He’d been hoping just to stay with Haru like he already had been, but that’s probably too much to ask for.

            Haru speaks up, luckily.  “It’ll be easier if you stay with me, since we’re taking the same plane, and you refused to get up this morning.”

            “I’m not used to the time zone!  My alarm was still set for Sydney time!”  Rin exclaims while Gou giggles.  He’s not known for being a morning person, but Haru doesn’t have to point that out.

            Haru just looks away, the smallest of smiles revealing his amusement with the conversation.  Rin grins.  “Besides, I’m not the one who almost made us late to practice yesterday afternoon because I’d ‘put on the wrong suit’.”

            “They feel different, Rin.  You know that.”

            Rei interrupts before he can come up with a good retort.  “How has training been, Rin-san?  I’ve heard you’ve been so busy with that, you haven’t been able to come back to Japan since you left.”

            “Yeah.”  Rin scratches the back of his head with his free hand.  “Gou, I’m sorry I missed your graduation ceremony.  I tried to get time off, but my coach…”

            “It’s fine Onii-chan.  You’re here now.”

            Rin looks around, realizing Nagisa isn’t leading them to Haru’s house like he’d thought.  “Where are we going?”  He asks cautiously.

            “Iwatobi.”

            He turns to Rei sharply, not missing the excitement shining in Haru’s eyes.  “Didn’t you guys graduate?”

            “Nagisa-kun convinced me to use my captain title to help him gain access for once we were no longer students.”

            Rin looks to Nagisa who translates instantly.  “I got Rei to make us a spare key.”

            “Gou, you need to find new friends.”  She and Nagisa just laugh in unison.  The bastard.

            To no one’s surprise, Haru strips down to his suit the moment they get inside and jumps into the water.  Rin considers joining him, but it’s a little too cold to swim outside.  “You better not get sick before the tournament!”  He just shouts after the other instead.

            Gou tries to convince Rei to let her see what the boy’s locker room looks like, since there’s no one else here, and Rin decides it’s not worth it to get involved in that one.  He pulls out one of the lounge chairs and sits, watching Haru swim back and forth.  He doesn’t notice Nagisa until the other pokes his arm.

            “What?”

            “Congratulations, Rin-chan!”

            “On what?”

            “You’re finally dating Haru-chan, aren’t you?”

            Rin’s cheeks immediately turns a deep red and he looks back to make sure Gou and Rei are nowhere nearby before turning to face Nagisa.  “We’re not dating, what would possibly make you think that?”

            “I saw you holding hands at the train station.”

            “That was –!  We were just –!  We’re not dating!”

            The expression Nagisa’s wearing indicates that he doesn’t believe Rin.  “You know none of us would judge you for that.  We’re all kind of expecting it anyway.”

            Rin frowns.  “It’s not that.  It’s just…”  He trails off, looking back to where Haru is now floating on his back.  “We’re not dating.”

            Nagisa pats his shoulder.  “There, there.  Give it time.”

            He doesn’t say anything to that.  Mostly because he doesn’t know what he’d say.  Instead he spends the rest of the time chatting with Rei about his post high school plans while Nagisa and Gou make it their goal to get Haru out of the pool again.

            They have a nice time, heading out of the pool once it gets dark to grab dinner.  Rin makes sure Gou can get home safely before he and Haru head to the freestyler’s place.  “Makoto is coming tomorrow right?”  He asks as Haru pulls out the futon for him to sleep on.

            Haru nods.

            “Sousuke is too.  I got a text from him earlier.”  Haru doesn’t have anything to say to that one.  He knows the two of them have never gotten along well, even though he doesn’t understand why.  At least they’ve had the decency to not be hostile to each other, so Rin isn’t too worried about tomorrow.  “What are our plans tomorrow anyway?”           

            Haru just shrugs, but Rin has a feeling he’s hiding something.  He doesn’t push it though, choosing to take a shower and get ready for bed instead.

            He expects Haru to drag the futon out into the living room, but when he gets in there his bag is gone and there’s no futon there either.  Turns out it’s in Haru’s room, set up next to his bed.  “I’m sleeping in here?”  He asks. 

            Haru just averts his eyes.  “I’m going to take a bath.  You can turn the lights off if you’re tired.”

            He isn’t tired enough for that, and after Haru leaves he spends the next fifteen minutes debating if it’s worth it to lie on Haru’s bed and see what would happen when the other gets out of the bath.  Not this time, Rin decides, lying on his own futon.  Maybe next time he’ll try it.


	4. It's my turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 4: It's My Turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how happy I am with this chapter to be honest. But I wanted to get chapter 5 up, so 4 kind of needs to be posted first. If you see anything weird, let me know. I'll edit what needs editing.

            Sousuke’s train is the first one in the next day.  After a breakfast of mackerel (much to Rin’s disappointment), he heads over to the train station to meet Sousuke.  (Haru chose to stay behind and get Makoto later.)  They greet each other with their secret handshake, finally just pulling each other into a hug.  Sousuke’s wearing Rin’s necklace again and tells the other about his shoulder surgery and rehabilitation.  It sounds promising; according to Sousuke he’s already allowed to do some light swimming, and it hasn’t been hurting.  Rin couldn’t be happier.

            They walk around aimlessly for a bit, catching up on each other’s lives until Gou texts them saying Makoto’s train’s arrived and that they’re all planning to meet for lunch at the pool.  Lunch, as it turns out, is a picnic made up of all of Rin’s favorite foods.  He has no doubt Gou’s the one behind it. 

            At first, Rin’s concerned Sousuke will feel awkward there with only knowing Rin, but Nagisa seems intent on making _Sou-chan_ his new friend, dragging him off once the meal is done.  Rin catches Gou’s arm before she can follow them.  “Hey.  Thanks for all this.”  It’s not exactly a party, but the gesture is still one he understands and appreciates.

            She frowns and cocks her head.  “What do you mean?”

            “The picnic.  Making all my favorite foods and getting everyone together.  I appreciate it.”

            A small smile settles itself on Gou’s face.  “This wasn’t me.  This was all Haruka-senpai’s idea.”

            He means to ask her more about that.  Really, he does.  But then Nagisa waves her over to where he’s torturing Sousuke (Makoto and Rei look incredibly disappointed by the whole scene) and Rin doesn’t have the chance.

            “Hey Rin?”

            “Yeah?”

            He turns his head to find Haru standing there awkwardly.

            “I wanted to thank you for what you did in Australia and helping me find my own dream.  It means a lot.” It's said so bluntly, without any preamble, that it catches Rin entirely off guard.

            Rin flushes a little.  This is the closest Haru will ever get to making a long, flowery speech about his feelings, and it isn’t something to take lightly.  He doesn’t respond for a bit.  So long that Haru starts to look uncomfortable.  Until finally: “You planned this entire thing just to thank me?”

            Haru nods slightly.

            “You ordered the food.”

            The freestyler looks to the side.  “I made it.”

            That confession just makes Rin blush worse if that were even possible.  “Oh.  Thanks.”

            Haru is clearly uncomfortable with how awkward Rin is acting right now, coming up with some half-mumbled excuse and walking away, leaving Rin standing alone.  His cheeks are on fire, and no amount of staring at the deck is making it any better.  He considers jumping in the pool, too cold or not, just to distract himself from how _cute_ Haru thanking him was, but then there’s a clearing of a throat behind him.

            It’s Makoto.  He must’ve tired of Gou and Nagisa’s continued torture of Sousuke (and their obviousness in ignoring Rei’s protests).  He holds out his hand to shake Rin’s, and Rin is ridiculously happy to discover he’s not the only awkward one in attendance at the moment.  He pulls Makoto into a hug instead.

            “Oomph,” Makoto protests at first, but then hugs Rin back, patting his shoulders a couple times before Rin finally lets him go.

            “Hey thanks for coming.  Sorry you were so swamped this week.”

            “Ah, it’s not your fault.  I’m just glad I got a chance to come out this weekend.”

            “Why wouldn’t you?”

            Makoto smiles broadly.  “I guess I haven’t told you, have I?  I’m working as an assistant coach at an elementary school near the university.”

            Even though Makoto is one of the best at keeping in touch with him (third to Gou and Rei, shockingly), he can be surprisingly cryptic about his own life.  “No you didn’t.  Congratulations!”  Rin claps him on the back, and Makoto grunts a little at that one too.  Oops.  Sometimes Rin forgets that he’s gained more muscle and his slaps are harder than he intends.  “One step closer to your goal, huh?”  He has to admit, it’s nice watching his friends all push to reach their own dreams.  Makoto’s always been the nicest of them all; if any of them deserves to make it, it’s him.

            “Yeah.”  The backstroker shifts his weight.  “Haru’s excited about going to America with you.”

            “Really?  Did he say something to you?”

            “No.  But I know he is.”  Oh, right.  Makoto has that weird ability to read Haru’s mind.

            Rin looks over to where Nagisa has diverted his attention to draping himself all over Haru, who looks bored by the whole thing.  “I am too.”

            “Be careful with him, Rin.  Haru might be stronger than he was in high school, but he’s still innocent in a lot of ways.”

            This time Rin chooses not to respond rather than being forced to remain silent.  He just nods, and Makoto pats his shoulder.  “It’s your party.  You may as well come over and enjoy it.”

            He’s pleased to see that Sousuke and Rei seem to be getting along (well, Rei is chattering on about _something_ at a mile a minute, and Sousuke is just nodding politely), and Nagisa seems to have finally calmed down enough to stop jumping all over everyone.  He interacts with all of them, finally saving Sousuke from Rei when the taller man’s eyes start glazing over.  The afternoon turns into evening when Gou reappears by his side.  “Was it a good party, Onii-chan?”  She asks.

            “Yeah.  I’m glad I came back.”

            “I hope you can come back more often.”

            “Me too.”

            There’s talk of a bonfire on the beach, and they finally leave the pool.  They take a spontaneous trip to the grocery store to pick up veggies and meat to roast on the fire before heading to the ocean.  They stay out far later than they should.  Even though Rin and Haru don’t have to leave the next day, not all of them can hang out.  Apparently Rei and Nagisa already had plans to head towards their respective universities (conveniently close together), so this is their last night as a group until the next time Rin can come back to Japan.

            Nagisa ends up falling asleep on Rei’s lap, and Gou nods off onto Sousuke’s shoulder.  Rin doesn’t even notice his own eyes growing heavy until he feels a weight against his side.  He’s not sure when Haru moved to sit next to him, but he’s there now, staring at the fire with unfocused eyes.

            “I think it’s time to go home,” Makoto yawns.

            They all get up (some need more help than others), and Rin makes sure he says his goodbyes to Nagisa and Rei, both of whom give him sleepy nods.  Sousuke agrees to walk his sister home, and Makoto stays behind to put the fire out.  Rin and Haru help him at first, but Makoto waves them off, saying he can do it himself.  Rin wonders if he knows.

 


	5. Don't go where I can't follow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 5: Don't go where I can't follow

            Leaving Iwatobi is bittersweet.  His sister doesn’t have a chance to see him to the airport this time, needing to prepare for her own departure to the university she’s planning to attend.  He has to say goodbye to her and Sousuke at the train station.  But at least he doesn’t have to say goodbye to Haru just yet.  This time they get to ride the train together, and Rin won't need to cry on Haru’s shoulder when they reach the stop for the airport.

            It’s another long train journey that they both fall asleep on, and even though they have a whole week together in Hawaii, Rin finds himself wishing there were more long train rides and more sleepovers with Haru he could look forward to.  He glances over to where Haru’s still dozing off, and that overwhelming urge to kiss him overcomes him again.  Rin stands up.  He has to stretch his legs before he accidentally does something stupid like give in to his desire.

            “You were gone for a long time,” Haru remarks the moment Rin returns.

            It’s true.  He’d been gone over an hour, wandering to the furthest car and staring out the window there, trying not to wonder what life would be like if Haru had followed him to Australia.  The train is getting ready to arrive at their stop, and Rin grabs his bag.  He’s not mad, but he can’t answer Haru right now without letting something slip.

            “Grab your bag.  This is our stop.”  It comes out harsher than he intends, and Rin flinches at the sound of his own voice.  He doesn’t apologize though, choosing to head to the doors so they don’t miss their stop.

            Haru’s quiet as they make their way to the check in counter.  Unlike Rin, Haru has to check a bag.  Rin stands off to the side and waits for him, checking his phone for the time, feeling more and more nervous as the seconds pass.  He’d spent time alone with Haru in Tokyo and before that in Australia, but that doesn’t make the butterflies in his stomach go away any faster.  Being around Haru always makes him nervous, and a plane trip to a country neither of them have been to before is just heightening the sensation.

            Haru finally returns with just his backpack, and the two of them make their way to security in silence.  Rin’s a nervous mess by the time they get through and head towards the terminal.  He’s about to go pursue his dream for real, and Haru’s going to be right there with him.  It’s almost everything he’s ever hoped for but suddenly it’s too much.

            They reach the gate, and Rin drops his bag on the chair beside Haru.  “I’ll be right back.”  He barely turns away when a hand grabs his sleeve.

            Haru has his shirt in a death grip and isn’t looking up at Rin, and the panicky feeling overcomes him again.  “Haru, what…?”

            “Don’t go.”

            “I’m just going to the bathroom.”  It’s only partially a lie, but Rin can’t think of anything to say to the helpless tone of voice Haru’s adopted.  “I’ll be right back.”

            “No.  Don’t go where I can’t follow.”  The knuckles whiten as Haru tightens his grip on Rin’s sleeve before it slackens.

            He feels horrible for being so cold on the train.  He feels horrible for being so distant the entire trip.  He feels horrible for being so afraid of letting Haru know _how much he wants to kiss him_ , that he can’t hold back his feelings anymore.

            “I’m in love with you, Haru.”

            Even though there’s no one around them and even though Rin didn’t scream it, he can’t help but feel incredibly self-conscious.  That feeling is overridden by a new kind of panic.  One that says _now there’s no going back_.  And what if Haru doesn’t like him anymore?  What if Haru doesn’t want to see him ever again?  What if…

            “Go out with me.”

            Something’s wrong with Rin’s hearing, because there’s no way in a thousand years that Haru just asked him out.  “What?”

            “Go out with me.”  He says it louder this time.

            “Haru, it doesn’t work that way.  Just because someone confesses doesn’t mean you’re _obligated_ to date them.”

            Haru finally looks up at him, his expression defiant.  “I want to date you.  I like you Rin.”

            Rin’s entire face turns red.  Well.  That certainly changes things.  He never thought Haru liked him back.  But he did.  _Haru liked him back_.  “Oh.”

            Haru still looks just as irritated.  “Is that a yes?”

            “Yes.”  He’ll say that word a thousand times if Haru wants him to.  “Yes.  God, yes, I’ll go out with you.”

            Rin realizes he’s giving Haru another sappy look when the other looks away, the tips of his ears a light pink.  Damn, he wants to kiss Haru so bad.  He doesn’t want to push it though.  Especially not now while they’re in public.  Haru finally releases his shirt, and Rin decides he really should go in the bathroom and splash some water on his face.  “I’ll be right back, ok?”

            Haru just nods his head slightly, and Rin all but takes off towards the bathroom.  He has to tell someone.  He wants to shout it from the tallest rooftop, because it just doesn’t feel real.  _Haruka Nanase is his boyfriend_.  That’s insane.

            He doesn’t know how Haru feels about that, though, and he doesn’t want to do anything that’ll end their relationship before it even starts.  But he feels like he’s about to burst and he has to tell someone.  So he texts Sousuke.  They’re best friends, and Sousuke knows how to keep a secret.  He gets a _congratulations_ text in response that has about an eighth of the enthusiasm in it as he’s feeling right now.  Not that he should’ve expected any more from Sousuke, but it does help a bit.  He feels slightly less like he’s about to explode.

            Once he’s splashed some water on his face and the red of it has faded to pink, he returns out to Haru.  The freestyler is sitting there, staring out the window and looking bored.  He could look however he wants, though, as long as he’s still Rin’s.

            There’s a stupid grin across Rin’s face that he can’t quite contain as he sits next to Haru.  “Told you I’d be back,” he informs the other, his voice giddy in his own ears.

            Haru hmms in agreement, like he doesn’t quite care, but he reaches out and grabs Rin’s hand, telling Rin a different story.  He intertwines their fingers, squeezing Haru’s hand.  The light pink at the top of Haru’s ears spreads down to his neck and Rin’s smile widens, if that were even possible.  He’s not sure it’ll ever disappear.


	6. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eight hours and thirteen minutes is a long time to not get to kiss Haruka Nanase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late for a lot of reasons. It was the holidays, my parents came to visit, and there was no wifi where I went. (Then I had to go and injure myself like a loser which made my motivation crash like ocean waves at high tide). Anyway, the last two will be up eventually. By which I mean within the next week or so. Not tomorrow though. I have another fic to catch up on tomorrow.

            The flight time from Tokyo, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii is eight hours and thirteen minutes according to Rin’s itinerary.  He’d hoped his first few hours dating Haru would’ve been spent doing more productive things like kissing him.  Mostly kissing him.  Only kissing him, actually.  And maybe taking short little breaths every few minutes.

            Instead, they’re stuck on an airplane and Haru passes out on his shoulder again within the first thirty minutes of take-off.  If he’s not careful, he’s going to end up spending all his time with Haru asleep.  At least, Rin notes, this time they get to hold hands.

            The flight is incredibly boring though.  There’s nothing to look at out the window aside from water (which gets old fast, no matter what Haru would’ve argued, had he been awake).  He tries sleeping, but that doesn’t work, so he ends up giving in and watching the supplied movies.  They’re all English with Japanese subtitles, but either way he understands it well enough to keep himself entertained.

            Haru wakes up just as the credits roll on the first movie.  He seems confused and a little disoriented in a way that has Rin once again wishing (not that he’d ever stopped wishing) he could just kiss him and be done with it.  But the aisle seat in their row isn’t empty, and holding hands is risky enough.  He settles with squeezing Haru’s hand and whispering a soft “hey” instead.

            “Where are we?”  Haru leans against the window looking out.

            “About three hours in.”

            “How much longer?”

            Rin chuckled.  Haru _would_ be the type who wouldn’t read the itinerary and then rely on other people to know.  “About five hours.”

            He can’t tell if Haru’s irritated that the time isn’t shorter, irritated that the time isn’t longer, or even irritated at all.  He wonders if Haru was hoping for something better than a long plane ride as their first date too.  Haru doesn’t say anything about it though.  He just puts in his own headphones and watches the next movie silently alongside Rin with the occasional glance out the window.

            Halfway through the second movie, their third seat mate gets up to use the bathroom and Rin leans over and plants a small kiss on Haru’s shoulder.  It’s stupid, really, that their first kiss is on an airplane, in the middle of a long flight, and isn’t even on the lips.  The tips of Haru’s ears turn a light pink though and that makes it all better.

            He doesn’t risk another one until their aisle mate falls asleep in his seat an hour or so later.  Rin goes for something small; kissing Haru’s fingers where their hands are entwined.  Then another on the inside of Haru’s wrist because he can.  Then again on his shoulder because that first reaction had been so cute.  Each one makes that adorable ear blush appear and leaves Rin wondering how he thought he could live without it.  Not that he really thought he could.  But he did think he’d have to.

            There are a lot of things Rin never knew he couldn’t live without.

            Like the way Haru turns away when Rin whispers things like _your eyes are amazing_ and _you smell incredible_ in his ears.  Or how Haru’s rubs his cheek slightly against Rin’s shoulder like it’s not comfortable enough, but Rin knows it’s just a sign of affection.  But mostly it’s the blush that starts at the tip of Haru’s ears and moves down his neck when Rin finally has the guts to kiss his cheek.

            There are probably a thousand more things that Haru does that Rin will come to love, but and eight hour thirteen minute plane ride between Tokyo and Honolulu isn’t the place to discover them.  Especially since, despite the hundreds of kisses Rin has planted on Haru, they still haven’t had a real one.

            That’s something he’s looking forward to doing, especially when the pilot finally announces the final descent into Hawaii.  Haru’s grip on his hand tightens ever so slightly; the only clue that Haru’s sharing in some of Rin’s excitement to get off this plane.  Of course, Haru’s reason could just be that he’s tired of sitting and staring at the ocean without being able to touch it.  Either way, though, they’ll get off the plane, and Rin will steal a real kiss from Haru if it’s the last thing he does.

            They’re not at the back of the plane, but they’re not at front either, so it takes them ages to get off the plane.  Or at least it feels that way to Rin.  He taps his foot impatiently as the row in front of them takes a thousand years to pull their luggage down from the overhead bin and hears a sniff behind him that might be Haru hiding a laugh.

            Another thousand years pass and they finally make it off the plane.  Rin complains about how long it took them until they reach the bathroom.  He wants to push Haru into one of the stalls and make out with him for twenty minutes, but they have to take turns watching their bags and having their first kiss in a bathroom stall is too cliché in the wrong direction.

            They don’t get to kiss in the airport, in the taxi, or even in the hotel elevator up to their rooms (there’s another couple already in there).  Where they do kiss though is Haru’s room, which is a lot closer than Rin’s.  He wasn’t even planning to go in, but to his surprise Haru holds the door open for him and Rin follows him with only the smallest of pauses.

            Haru’s on him the instant the door closes.  He pushes Rin back against the door to close it, pressing their lips together.  It surprises Rin so much he actually drops the bag he was still carrying.  His hands aren’t idle for long though, moving up Haru’s back to tangle in his hair.  They don’t even use tongue or do more than press their lips together a few dozen times, but it still leaves Rin breathless and dizzy in the best way.

            It’s over far too soon though.  Haru steps away, the pink blush from before turned to a full red, and Rin remembers he has his own room to get to.  He wants to take Haru out for dinner and kiss him some more and maybe lie on the beach at sunset, but they have a tournament to attend, and Rin can’t afford to let go of his concentration when he’s finally getting close to achieving his dream.  He needs some rest in a real bed and a swim in the pool before he can think about things like where to take Haru for their first date.

            He grabs his bag and walks over to the other, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.  “I’ll call you.”

            Haru doesn’t give a response more than a nod, but that’s good enough for Rin.  He grins and has to walk away before he starts kissing him again and floats on cloud nine all the way to his room.

**Author's Note:**

> I will probably never get around to giving this the proper ending I had planned, but in re reading, this seems like a pretty good end point. They've had their first real kiss and are finally dating now, so I'm going to call this The End.


End file.
